[b] hello
here a few links on outlook help if its not directly caused by avast.
http://email.about.com/cs/oetipstricks/index.htm
http://www.okinfoweb.com/moe/mail/mail_006.htm
http://www.3dspotlight.com/tweaks/ie6/index.shtml
http://www.tomsterdam.com/insideOE/

[/b]